Abstract. The need for specific skills and competencies evolves in response to environmental, social and organizational conditions. However, the model for certifying competence levels has remained almost unchanged for centuries: universities (and other institutions) verify and certify that a person has reached a certain level of knowledge and through a standalone solution. The output is often a signed and stamped document that undoubtedly contains limitations in the present international, multilingual and dynamic job market. Universities, educational institutions and consortiums are increasingly exploring how technologies enable and support innovative models of competence certification. In this paper, we investigate how blockchain technologies improve the certification system and generate added value for different involved actors: learners, educational institutions and businesses. An exploratory study is proposed to systematize the overall impacts of blockchain in the field of digital certification while focusing on university education as the main research field. We conducted a first set of interviews with key players of the two Italian universities that first adopted a blockchain certification system. The aim is to investigate, through different but complementary organizational theories, the value creation factors and conditions for the various actors in the blockchain-based competence certification ecosystem.

Reference. Varone, A. et al. (2025) “Promoting Industrial Sustainability Through the Development of a Collaborative Ecosystem in Lazio’s Naval and Aerospace Sectors - ProspettiveinOrganizzazione,” 21 May. Available at: https://prospettiveinorganizzazione.assioa.it/promoting-industrial-sustainability-through-the-development-of-a-collaborative-ecosystem-in-lazios-naval-and-aerospace-sectors/

Abstract. Abstract. This paper focuses on the interplay between firms and open and collaborative innovation communities. We develop a formal model where both volunteers (agents setting their agendas freely) and firm’s employees (agents whose agenda is mostly set by their employer) participate in the creation of a common artifact. In this framework, we discuss how firms can influence the architecture of the emerging product to assure fast and performant development and a desirable distribution of innovative labor within the project team. We find that closing the project only to employees implies high speed and performance if employees are given autonomy in certain dimensions and are directed in others. In this case, however, we observe a trade-off in terms of ideal core–periphery division of labor on one side and development speed and performance on the other side. At the opposite extreme, creating a volunteer-only project can ease the trade-off but assures positive results only if the firm is able to set up an entry mechanism that “surgically” selects volunteers with specific preferences. A mixture of both employees and volunteers can strike a good balance, relaxing the two constraints.

Reference. Dalle, J. M., David, P. A., Rullani, F., & Bolici, F. (2022). The interplay between volunteers and firm’s employees in distributed innovation: emergent architectures and stigmergy in open source software. Industrial and Corporate Change, 31(6), 1358-1386.

Abstract. The need for specific skills and competencies evolves in response to environmental, social and organizational conditions. However, the model for certifying competence levels has remained almost unchanged for centuries: universities (and other institutions) verify and certify that a person has reached a certain level of knowledge and through a standalone solution. The output is often a signed and stamped document that undoubtedly contains limitations in the present international, multilingual and dynamic job market. Universities, educational institutions and consortiums are increasingly exploring how technologies enable and support innovative models of competence certification. In this paper, we investigate how blockchain technologies improve the certification system and generate added value for different involved actors: learners, educational institutions and businesses. An exploratory study is proposed to systematize the overall impacts of blockchain in the field of digital certification while focusing on university education as the main research field. We conducted a first set of interviews with key players of the two Italian universities that first adopted a blockchain certification system. The aim is to investigate, through different but complementary organizational theories, the value creation factors and conditions for the various actors in the blockchain-based competence certification ecosystem.

Reference. Bolici, Cuel, Ghiringhelli, and Virili (2022). Ecosystems in blockchain competence certification: An explorative multi-perspective analysis. In Do Machines Dream of Electric Workers? Understanding the Impact of Digital Technologies on Organizations and Innovation, pp. 99-108. Springer International Publishing, 2022.